San Francisco Giants

ARTICLES ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS BY DATE - PAGE 4

The Sports Xchange By Bill Center, The Sports Xchange Giants 5, Padres 3 (10) SAN DIEGO -- Brandon Belt hit a two-run homer off San Diego reliever Dale Thayer in the 10th inning Saturday night to give the San Francisco Giants a 5-3 victory over the Padres at Petco Park. Belt, who returned from the disabled list Friday after missing 50 games with a broken thumb, followed a leadoff double by right fielder Hunter Pence with a 406-foot line drive into the right field stands on a 2-2 pitch.

Giants pull out of skid with win SAN DIEGO -- The San Francisco Giants hadn't "hit rock bottom," according to Bruce Bochy. But the Giants manager acknowledged Saturday that he could see it at Petco Park. "Rock bottom was a possibility today," Bochy said after the Giants defeated the San Diego Padres 5-3 on first baseman Brandon Belt's two-run homer in the top of the 10th inning off Padres right-handed reliever Dale Thayer. The first baseman's 406-foot shot into the right field stands came one inning after Giants left fielder rocketed a tying homer off Huston Street, handing the Padres closer his first blown save of the season.

SportsDirect Inc. Preview: Giants at Padres The San Diego Padres bring a season-high five-game winning streak into Saturday's contest against the visiting San Francisco Giants, whose swoon continued with Friday's series opener. The Giants, who were shut out for the third time in their last five games in the 2-0 loss, have dropped 18 of their past 23 games to fall 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. First baseman Brandon Belt returned Friday after missing eight weeks with a broken left thumb and batted second as part of manager Bruce Bochy's effort to jump-start his team's struggling offense.

SportsDirect Inc. Preview: Cardinals at Giants The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants traded shutouts in the first two games of the series, with struggling offenses just as much a factor as the strong pitching. The Giants will attempt to salvage a series win when they host the Cardinals for the rubber match Thursday. St. Louis has not scored more than three runs in any of its last six games but needed only two to overcome San Francisco on Wednesday. The Giants got their lone win in the series Tuesday behind Tim Lincecum, who has presided over the team's only victories in the last nine contests.

The Sports Xchange By Dave Del Grande, The Sports Xchange Wainwright, Cardinals shut out Giants SAN FRANCISCO -- On a night when he recorded just one strikeout, St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright needed a lot of help from his defense. That is exactly what he got from third baseman Matt Carpenter, who did his fair share on offense as well. Thanks in large part to Carpenter and the rest of the Cardinals' error-free defense, Wainwright extracted a measure of revenge against the San Francisco Giants, throwing 7 2/3 innings of shutout ball in a 2-0 victory Wednesday night.

The Sports Xchange By Dave Del Grande, The Sports Xchange Cardinals 7, Giants 2 SAN FRANCISCO -- Jhonny Peralta smacked a two-run home run in the first inning Thursday, giving the St. Louis Cardinals a lead they never relinquished in a 7-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants. The second consecutive win in San Francisco allowed the Cardinals to break even at 5-5 on their 10-game trip. The seven runs scored were one more than the six they had amassed in their previous six games.

The Sports Xchange By Dave Del Grande, The Sports Xchange Peralta's pop puts Cardinals on track to win SAN FRANCISCO -- St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta doesn't want to hear about AT&T Park being tough on hitters. Not after what happened to him in the first inning Thursday afternoon. Peralta smacked a two-run home run on a ball he thought was going to be caught, a pleasant surprise that gave the Cardinals a lead they never relinquished in a 7-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

The Sports Xchange By Dave Del Grande, The Sports Xchange Lincecum follows no-hitter with shutout win over Cards SAN FRANCISCO -- Tim Lincecum didn't duplicate his no-hit effort Tuesday night. But he came so close, he insisted he was just as happy afterward. The National League's reigning Player of the Week followed up his no-hitter with eight innings of shutout ball, pitching the San Francisco Giants to a 5-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a three-game series.

The Sports Xchange MLB Team Report - San Francisco Giants - INSIDE PITCH SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants wished Angel Pagan well as he prepared to leave the team Tuesday to visit a back specialist in Los Angeles. They hoped they were not saying good-bye. Pagan, who has tried rest, massage and even injections in an effort to soothe what the Giants are calling back inflammation, hopes to avoid the ultimate cure -- surgery -- when he visits a doctor Wednesday in L.A. Pagan insisted before Tuesday's 5-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals that surgery was not an option in his mind.